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10b4me
Ice climber
Rustys Saloon
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Apr 19, 2009 - 08:45pm PT
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Sean,
btw, I enjoyed your part in MOS 6. That liebacking looked pretty intense.
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bachar
Gym climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Apr 19, 2009 - 10:00pm PT
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Cool stuff Sean. Thanks for the story. You know I give rap bolters a lot of sheet, but that's cuz of where I come from and what I believe can be done ( and for the most part, I'm just jiving anyway - climbing is just a game after all ).
I've always given credit when credit is due, so I say way to go - nice ascent, very cool. True Yosemite style....
Cheers, JB
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Sean Jones
climber
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Apr 19, 2009 - 11:07pm PT
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JB,
It's good to hear from you. I haven't been on super topo at all since things were all crazy around the 1/2 dome thing.
When I wrote the stuff about this route, I couldn't help but think about all that other stuff.
Sorry for any negative sh#t on my part to you or anyone else. I'm really not a negative person at all so it really bugged me to see myself getting all pissed back then.
Climbing is a game....life is a game.....and lucky for us, we're here playing it at all.
I have to admit one of the stupidest things I said back then was that I would take you up on your oldschool deal and solo with you for $10,000 dollars these days.
I probly would have died trying that or been smart and backed out.
Always had big respect for you and all the other big dogs and still do.
Hope you're well and maybe see you when in Cali coming soon ! Can't wait to get there !
Sean.
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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Apr 19, 2009 - 11:57pm PT
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So Sean, I went out late last month and climbed Growing Up. Well, half the route anyway. Didn't get on the upper slab pitches, never was much of a sport climber... Ha ha! Truth be told, it just kicked our asses and we bailed at pitch 13. I have plans of going back.
I was gonna write a TR, but I'm still waiting for the photos from my climbing partner. What's a TR without pics, huh?
Anyway, I figure I'll let you explain beforehand before any judgement or accusations are made so I'll try and be fare and forthcoming.
What's with the hundreds of pounds of trash left behind at the campsite? There are two massive tarps, empty water bottles, a stove, bags of trash and a half dozen spent fuel bottles thrown all about the place. We gathered it all together and wrapped it up, but did not have the means to carry it all out. Also, there are a dozen or more ropes near the base. This is all abandoned trash. What are your plans for removing this junk.
Also, who's idea was it to build a fire ring up against a living tree charring the bottom and probably killing the thing? We tore down the ring and moved it away from the tree.
I'm really not trying to blame or be an as#@&%e, but y'all were there for months so I figured you'd have the scoop... What gives?
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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Apr 20, 2009 - 01:03am PT
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Directly below the corner systems that feature GU. A bit out of the way for Snake Dike. Actually, way out of the way.
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
Lake Oswego, Oregon
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Apr 20, 2009 - 02:23am PT
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Oh no... here we go again.
If Salamanizer is telling it as he sees it (and no reason to believe he isn't) then Sean and DR have some 'splaining to do!
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Sean Jones
climber
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Apr 20, 2009 - 04:16am PT
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Salamanizer,
The whole deal up there was far and away the most involved epic thing I've personally ever been involved in. So much gear moved up and back down that hill it's not even imaginable.
When I first showed up there there was 2 haul bags worth of crap at the base already. Old wasted ropes, sling, water bottles buried and tried to be hidden in the talus, ext. We removed all this and there's still another haul bag worth of someone else's crap in a cave that I still plan to get out of there. Then we did a whole haul bag worth of trash from above. Cleaned the base all the way from sub dome down to GU. And later in the season did it again after the tourist huck fest from the top. Pretty strange how much trash was there from older climbers even on this "back country wall"
Anyway, the removal of my own stuff was a huge undertaking. By the end I was hiking out loads still myself as well as paying others to do it too.
We then left X amount of stuff still there as I planned to re-mobalize and go back to shoot video still. We did go back and do Video....then the final stage of removal was going on.
All the while me and my fam were packing everything we had and moving to Vermont. Talk about being spread thin. Anyway a couple of friends at the very end absolutely promised me that I could get in the truck and head east in peace with the fam and they would get the rest.
I paid them over a thousand dollars in gear and money to do this and told them they could keep everything they took out as well. At least a thousand or more worth of perfectly good gear.
I checked in with them constantly after leaving and am fully aware that they never did the job. One excuse after the other.
I'm coming to Yosemite for 3 weeks and will be there in less than a week now....had they have done their promised part.....well I wouldn't be going up to So. Face at all.
The first thing I have to do and will be doing now is hiking back up to the pig and dragging all this down. I'm pisse about this as I paid out the ass to have this done and will now be dealing myself.
Such is life....every new route...every f*#king job I run....everything....if you don't do everything yourself even when people are getting paid.....it all goes to hell.
All the stuff at camp was double wrapped in a 2 tarp burrito and nothing was laying out anywhere when I left. I was even told that it all came out ......now I know this didn't happen either. Mother f*#kers !
Like I said, I don't abandon trash. I paid more than well and obviousely paid the wrong people. I'll be there in less than a week and all will be dealt with period.
God damn, those statics at the base were in killer shape and cost a fortune. Has to be 1,300 ft now heading down to go straight to the trash.
As for the fire ring at the base of the tree, it was there when we got there. We did have some fires and the tree as a wind block was mandatory to keep sparks from setting the whole so. face on fire. If you look 50, 60 feet up this and every other tree there....they've all been blackened and charred time and again from forest fires and lightning. None of them are even close to dying and neither is the one in camp.
Just remember tht as much stuff as you just found their, I have already removed in other people's trash. More from climbers than even top hucking tourists. What's mine there is not forgotten or abandoned...Just f*#king wasted and worthless now and well paid already be me for a job never done. I was promised that the camp was removed and this is news to me.
Every speck and more will be gone when I get there soon. What needs to be happening when I get there is me grabbing a couple f*#ks by the neck and following them up the trail while I wear a fanny pack and carry a bullwhip and beat their ass all the way up and back down the trail. Rest assured all will be done ! climbing is my job and sh#t like this this is not good for me. All will be done !
Right now....less than a year after moving the whole fam to VT, I'm house huinting in Boulder,Co. and will be moving the whole fam here this July ass the winter was too much on my wife and kids. Oh well, what's another 1/2 million dollars anyway. More like a sponsored mule than a climber.
Thanks for the info and again rest assured all will be Laid to Rest and spick and span soon. Speaking of being Laid to Rest now there may be a couple of funerals going on in Yos for a couple young f*#ks.
Again, thanks.
Sean.
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Apr 20, 2009 - 07:10am PT
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CLASSIC!
I love you Sean. If there's one thing about you, you're true to your word. I'm coming up this weekend. Talk to you soon.
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Apr 20, 2009 - 07:12am PT
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Hey Peter-Did you guys leave a pin near the bottom of the first pitch with a big 'ol eye on it? We figured whoever had placed that first bolt to get to the ledge left the pin in the first pitch when they bailed. It was really a cool looking pin. Looked very handmade.
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Domingo
Trad climber
El Portal, CA
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Apr 20, 2009 - 08:15am PT
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Damn, didn't know you were in Colorado house-hunting Sean... Great TR, and I can't wait to see the photos from the first half of GU, Salamanizer.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 20, 2009 - 09:13am PT
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HI Wildone,
It was an interesting thing, finding the old bolt and seeing other signs of climb attempt(s) at the obvious least difficult spot to start Laid To Rest. I am not remembering the pin....my photos don't show much of the first flake system unfortunately. It is likely it was there before Bragg and I messed around there. The line of the climb is so completely obvious (horribly so) that it has to have had attempts or little "look-see" activity long before 1975 when John and I were up there. Note that the easy climb, Happy Gully, way over to the right was done in 1966 (Harding, Faint, Fredericks).
By the way, you guys probably would like to see these two shots of doing the first ascent of Call of the Wild. Here Bragg is leading the 5.10d roof not far off the ground. John has the most incredible reach plus he was like 6ft-3 or 4" at least.
About 4 more 5.8-5.9 pitches lead to the top of the Pearl Gates (sub-dome). When we did it, snow melt was gushing down parts of the upper pitches. Very weird freezing our asses off, completely wet, while it was probably a minimum of 90 degrees, typical hot July.
[
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Sean Jones
climber
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Apr 20, 2009 - 11:05am PT
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SICK !!!!!!
Awesome shots of Call of the wild. We were so busy up there doing all we did that we only ever walked by "Call" and wished to climb it. Maybe now that I have to go up there on this trip I will go do the thing.
I have to do some photo stuff while in Yos to please sponsors and all plus that's just what I do anyway. I have a really big list of newness on my plate and the thought of having to go to 1/2 dome for the 50 plus time........god.......help me !
Well maybe we should just climb Laid to Rest one more time and have Reeder shoot the f*#ker since we never got to shoot on it.
Wild One....you up for this ?
I'm not but what the f*#k...when have I ever been ready for any of the things we do.
Glad you'll be in EP for the weekend and see you there.
S.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 20, 2009 - 02:37pm PT
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Awesome trip report! Great adventure up there. Thanks for sharing.
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10b4me
Ice climber
Rustys Saloon
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Apr 20, 2009 - 02:56pm PT
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Sean,
thanks for cleaning up the garbage. wish I could help out.
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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Apr 20, 2009 - 08:50pm PT
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Kudos Sean, I figured there was more to the whole story than meets the eye. You'll need help, there is more than one person could possibly carry. The static ropes were in a bin tucked inside a cave out of the elements. They looked to be in decent shape, salvageable I would think. I'd love to help, but I'm pretty much a weekend warrior and there is no way I'm going back up there and not climbing something.
I found the beta on your topo to be more or less correct. Besides the normal pitches that felt hard or soft, the only thing I found incorrect was on pitch 13. There is only one bolt after the tension traverse before entering the corner that leads to the anchor, not the three your topo shows. This traverse is all good for the leader but totally fuks the follower. The follower is forced to unclip and downclimb hard .11 to the ledge risking a 30' swing into a corner, or switch over and do a lower out, untie and pull the rope, then climb to the ledge. Kinda a pain in the ass when trying to free climb. Seemed weird to me. Oh, and there are no fixed pins on pitch 10, which your topo shows. Those would have been really nice. Fiddling in black aliens while liebacking a .12+ tips crack was torture. That pitch is uber sustained, probably my favorite along side pitch 3's splitter offhands corner crack.
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Apr 20, 2009 - 09:00pm PT
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Wow Peter. Call of the Wild looks like a truly amazing route. Much cleaner and less scary (therefore enjoyable) than Laid to Rest. The pics look absolutely inspiring. I'm going to have to do that one.
As for Laid to rest, the only evidence we saw of passage was no higher than the first real pitch, where there was a large, very handmade looking pin with a large eye (not unlike a pin to rap from) about 30 feet up from the ledge. Above this was much loose rock, etc. We could be wrong, but it just didn't "feel" like a second ascent.
As well, it would take someone slightly unstable (batso, tobin, yabo) to look up at that thing and want to do it. Truth be told, I was scared shitless, and only went along with Sean because I have absolute faith and trust in his abilities. Climbing with Sean is like climbing with some Mega guide. There is just absolutely nothing he can't handle. Well, we ended up punching it under seemingly dumptruck loads of flakes that you have to wedge yourself between for upward progress. In retrospect, the route turned out to be amazing in quality, but it sure looks scary.
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Apr 20, 2009 - 09:03pm PT
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Ahh, pitch 13. That was probably my hardest follow ever, and I did it in mad rock approach shoes worn smooth from the hike in and out, sized small, tied tight. Scared witless.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 20, 2009 - 10:06pm PT
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Chad,
Thanks for the topo corrections. I've updated it:
http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/growingup.pdf
I added a note to p13 suggesting that the second rope be used to protect the follower for the tension traverse.
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Sean Jones
climber
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Apr 21, 2009 - 12:49am PT
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Pitch 13 is the one part of the route that I didn't like the way it was left either. We we're sooooooo stoked that the whole thing was going free up until this point......then the dike ran out and we fought to figure out even the most epic of slab passages to get us through. We got nothing !!!!! This will be hard to imagine ever going free. There is a thin chance of a variation going straight back up to the roof there and traversing the lip. I tried hard for this too but bad feet and pinching above your head while traversing with feet tucked under beat us. You would have to train for this by doing pullups on 2 by fours. I don't mean hanging on them like jugs... I mean pinching them from below and doing pullups. Many of them.
Anyway frustrated at this point I drilled the last bolt and lowered to the ledge and took off. Easy for me but the follower did just what you said. You either unclip it and down climb or the follower lowers as well, unties, pulls the rope through, re ties, and carries on.
We did the second of those two options. It does seem a bit odd to untie ever from the end of the rope up there but it can be done quickly, safely, and when you think of all that's involved to do the whole route, it's just one more little thing to deal with. Also when we did untie we did it still being able to be tied into another bite of the rope from further up. So being fully unclipped is never the case. Unless you're f*#king up !!!
As for the pitons on pitch 10..... here's a really strange story and a bit scary as well.
When we did the route, we had the pins fixed there. They were tested beyond belief. I mean tight as hell and I don't think I could have gotten them out without beating the sh#t of the rock bad. The route was sent, the pins were left and in great shape.
Way later I went back up there with Eric Perlman and Graham Hunt to climb the thing and film for Masters of Stone 6. This would be after the brutal heat of a summer gone by.
Every one of the pins was hanging in there by a thread. I mean just touching them with the Quick draw and they fell out in my lap. I was horrified ! These pins were left as bomber as you could ever leave pins period !. They just fell out in my face.
I know we get expansion and contraction on everything in life. Life itself, concrete, even our beloved solid granite. Everything !
But this piece of rock, this roof is dead in the middle of the most bullet hard granite anywhere. The roof isn't just some little flake.. we're talking 50 feet thick and 300 ft long, and 1,000 ft. down. A major corner. Did this whole thing grow an 1/8 inch over a summer ? If so why didn't all the pins in the valley have this happen.
Or is this corner the next mega exfoliation to peel from the dome ?
Sorry I didn't up date the topo. I've been so maxed out for the past 3 years on so much I just can't keep up any more. Every day I'm pedal to the medal all over many states. I mean the United Stares and lots of them ! Doing all I can every day to make all work and just can't keep up with it all. Just moved the whole Fam to Vermont and now less than a year later I'm sitting here right now in a hotel while house hunting in Boulder, Co. then out to Yos, all the way back east and move the whole fam to Co in July. 12 and 15 hrs a day working every day now for months. I mean every day. Still can barely sleep at night with too much in my head for the next day.
My emails are pounding away tons from climbers all over with tons of questions all the time. Trying hard to keep up.....but falling behind in places. Places like the time to update this topo or even draw up topos to other routes that never got them.
I really don't need to be going to Yosemite right now. More like going to an island....laying in the sand....f*#king cucumbers over my eyes and all. Just laying and breathing.
I won't be laying anywhere though.....my wife says I'm addicted to chaos...............she's right !!!!! Pedal to the medal is where I'll be. All day and all night.
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Vulva, Wyoming
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Apr 21, 2009 - 12:50am PT
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This is a cool thread!
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